Back to Black
by Regent Septimus
Summary: With a mission gone wrong and his life falling to shambles Mercury black must deal with the poor hand he's dealt and work towards his future. The arrival of Qrow Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long only complicates things further when Mercury is absolutely positive that Qrow saw his face during the Fall Maiden incident. Will Mercury pull through it all or find himself on the wanted list?
1. Chapter 1 - On Borrowed Strength

"Get out and stay out!"

The scrappy looking boy in black slowly clambered to his feet and pointed back at the door slamming before him with nothing short of hatred in his eyes "You'll regret that! I'll be back here someday and you'll be... y-you fat fuck!" he grimaced at his lack of wit, his silver tongue not having been nearly as sharp since the incident. He began to walk away, picking up his pace when the door opened up behind him and just managing to get out of sight before he was made victim to another verbal and possibly physical bashing.

"God damn it" he muttered to himself, down on luck and even more down in cash.

Yes, Mercury Black had been down in the dumps for a while now. A heist gone wrong. Emerald had been witness to it all and she had been the one to sponsor his removal from the 'team'.

He grit his teeth at the memory.

* * *

 _"Please! Don't hurt my baby girl!" Mercury stopped in place, balanced on one leg with foot outstretched, crusted blood on his boots and legs from the other dozen he'd curb stomped or severed with force only he could muster with a simple kick._

 _His eyes softened as he looked at the sight of the young girl, faunas though she was. He was a murderer, he'd killed many just moments ago and their blood still stained his boots, leaving a trail of death with every step._

 _Yet he'd never been asked to kill a child before. Could he? Of course he could, a child couldn't even begin to defend itself. No. Not like that. Could he bring himself to do it?_

 _"I-I..." his eyes were twitching and his brow began to sweat. He couldn't. He watched them scurry away during his break in composure, breath ragged and heavy like he'd never known before, not even during the debilitating fight he'd had out with his old man._

 _"Was that the right choice?" he thought it had been his conscious for a moment but I moment of thought was all he needed to remember that this was indeed the voice of his literal partner in crime Emerald Sustrai. And she was giving him a look that reminded him so much of Cinder when she looked upon any subordinate unfortunate enough to get tangled in her web._

 _Unimpressed. Condescending. He was worthless in her eyes._

 _He struggled to say something, anything. It was a futile effort._

 _"You saved a cub and its mother. Congratulations" her words were venomous as she strut in closer to him, hands at her hips once she began to circle him, plaguing him with the thoughts he had been holding back. "They saw you, you realise that one word from them and you're out of the operation right?" he had no answer "Imagine when you show up at Amity. She'll be watching,_ everybody _will be watching." his breath hitched "And she'll point you out and squawk the moment you show up"_

 _He whirled on her went to grab her throat, as easy as if she let him. They had banter at all times, constantly at each other's throat but never this bad. Cinder always stopped them or they were far too aware of the fact that they had to at least tolerate one another to keep on working._

 _Now he was adding pressure to her throat, trying to choke the life out of her because he was terrified. Terrified and acting on impulse. His impulse to kill, something he knew how to do._

 _"You- think this will... help?" she forced out, Mercury adding his other hand and adding pressure to her throat, bringing strangled noises from the girl._

 _He had screwed himself already. Cinder caught wind of this and his well of use had already dried up. Cinder didn't need another known criminal, she had Torchwick to be the face of her operations already. His job was to infiltrate, he could hardly do that if the authorities were out for his head._

 _He felt Emerald begin to struggle, hands finding his wrists, her weapons clattering against the ground in her feeble grip. He was hyperventilating and his pupils began to sporadically dilate. He couldn't see her face anymore, tears welling as his life fell apart because he couldn't just kill an innocent little girl._

 _He roared and threw Emerald to the side, her gasping for air heavily audible. She turned to glare at him, throat bruised and weak from the enormous lack of oxygen that was slowly beginning to diminish. But it was too late as she collapsed against the ground unconscious, leaving Mercury as the only conscious human._

 _He continued to weakly gasp for air but his mind was made up. He couldn't go back. They'd kill him if they found out. He was useless and knew too much, they'd slaughter him just for that. Cinder didn't like loose ends and he was now one of them._

 _So Mercury had done what he did best and ran. He didn't even have the mind to find the door out, kicking walls down every which way just to find the quickest route to escape this place. He was rewarded with a seven storey drop but that did nothing to slow him down, using his boots to vault forward onto a smaller building rooftop and rolling to decrease the momentum, continuing to sprint onwards, onwards until his legs gave up on him._

* * *

And they had, three towns over from where he had been, now living in the slums upon the island of Patch.

He was out of money because he couldn't find work. Nobody wanted a grimy cripple with no apparent skill. How could he display skill when he was forced to use cheap knockoff prosthetics that were weak and unbalanced. His usual legs were worn and he couldn't have performed proper maintenance on them without a proper supply of dust and other necessities he couldn't find without a decent budget.

They were top of the line and it had been Cinder who had paid for them; as good as if not better than actual legs.

He had killed three people since his 'retirement', and those had been out of necessity. Three White Fang mooks who had informed him of his 'removal' from the team before making an attempt at his life. They were skilled, enough to have destroyed his left leg and heavily wounded him across his right shoulder and his chest. They must've been high ranking because Mercury was still in use of his decent prosthetics at the time, though worn with usage and lack of upkeep. He had stabbed one through the eye and brain with a shard of glass, lacerating into own hand before managing to plant a foot through the ribcage and against the spine of the other, managing to ruin the right leg with the gore clogging the systems.

The last one had fortunately been downed earlier in the fight, and even the limping, weak Mercury had been able to hold enough power over him to force him to squeal out the details of this little incursion.

It was simple: Emerald had snitched (not that he could blame her honestly), Cinder had decided he had outlived his usefulness and then this party came to silence him.

They hadn't found him again since then but they were no doubt still looking for him. Maybe because they assumed he'd still be functional somewhere rather than bumming off of scraps like he was. Mercury was good, Hunter rank or likely beyond. They knew that and expected more of him, even Cinder with her habit of looking upon everybody else as worms.

And yet even that was too much for him, and now he couldn't even afford to drown his sorrows in liquor.

He sighed at his self-depreciative trail of thought and decided to sit himself up. He just couldn't sleep like this, and if he was left with his thoughts any longer he felt they'd take a turn for the worse and he just didn't want to put himself in a corner anymore.

He stumbled towards the town centre, where everybody would undoubtedly give him a berth as if he had the plague and whisper insults and disgust his way as if they knew his life story. Two months prior he could've killed them all and had no problem, but becoming one of them forced him to sympathise further and while he found killing just as easy as before.

He at least chose his targets more wisely now.

And not just because he had to be wary of any average human in his current state.

Lights surrounded him now, and it was only occurring to him that being lost in thought had brought him here before he'd even been aware of it. He walked into the main street, no doubt smelling as bad as he looked given the expected gap of space people gave him. He held his composure as always, pretending he didn't hear the insults and didn't feel the stares from every direction like knives to his skin. If he weren't raised to be so hardy. didn't live to be strong then he would've cried. Dropped to the floor and cried.

And for all the self-depreciation he had been forced to bear lately. He at least understood that he was no lesser man to have made it this far with what he had been dealt. He had just made some bad decisions is all. He'd be back on top if he just stood firm against the storm.

"HEY!" he fell to the floor, wincing as his aura failed to take the blow, something he'd been having happen to him more lately through what he assumed was perhaps a disarray with his soul mixed with the constant traumas of living on the ground against the constant cold of the coming Winter. "Watch where you're going trash" his eyes went up to the group of young males towering over him, a group he recognised from his other visits in town just through passing, an imbedded skill within the assassin being to remember faces wherever possible.

Mercury decided to play possum as best he could and just nod and hope it would be over with, knowing that nobody would come to help. He found himself yanked up as one grabbed him roughly from either side, bringing him up to face the scum who had purposely bumped him down, his smirk one that told tales of how he was looking forward to shaming him in public like this. mercury's eyes glanced about unseen to scan his surroundings, finding numerous onlookers but no allies to be found here.

He hated them more than his current assaulters, even as they shouted at him, gripped him too fiercely and otherwise just hit him for not replying or giving them the time of day. He could handle this much pain, he'd suffered far worse far more. Break his bones or carve his skin and he would stubbornly refuse to scream for them, to give them the satisfaction.

But them. His eyes caught the onlookers again, glaring hate at them as they naturally took offence to his despising them for just standing there.

To themselves they were innocent, not partaking in the violence. To him they were worse, people who tried to justify their actions with kind words or insults to the lowlifes hurting him.

Words were cheap he had learnt early on. Actions were what he valued and these people gave him nothing to work with so they were no better.

He felt his nose break against one vicious right hook to his face, his blood splattering his left shoulder and the curb beneath them. "Damn, another stain to deal with..." he muttered, referring to both the blood and the stain on humanity currently beating him, only working up more ire with his total aloofness to it all.

The brute snarled and reeled his fist back again, preparing for another strike "Deal with this!" he roared smartly, Mercury staring back at him with uncaring eyes as the fist soared towards his temple.

 _At least with this i'll be able to get some rest._ He thought darkly.

Only for the fist to never reach him, eyes lashing out towards the hand that held the fist just inches from his face.

"Fancy seeing you here Thistle" came the voice of the elder male before him; blonde and well built from first glance, the blue eyes and stubble brought Mercury to a conclusion only confirmed by 'Thistle's exclamation.

"M-Mr Xiao-Long Sir!" he shouted out, all of the group stepping back in a rational fear of being punished, leaving Mercury to fall into the arms of somebody else. He looked up with tired eyes at what was one of the last people he wanted to see.

"You okay kid?" His breath smelt like booze and those burnt red eyes couldn't be mistaken. Mercury was afraid, more now in the 'safety' of Qrow's and Tai's support than when he was getting his face punched in just moments ago. Why? Not only were both of them Hunter's of incredibly high calibre but Qrow had even seen him before back during the fight with Amber.

"Y-yeah" he responded, tuning out the sound of Taiyang chewing out the scumbags behind him. "Th-thanks by the way" he would have to just seem like a grateful kid down on his luck and get out of here before he could be recognised, it seemed that it hadn't clicked in for the hunter extraordinaire yet so he'd just have to make an excuse to leave as soon as possible. "I'll just be going, sorry for the trouble"

A hand clamped down on both of his shoulder, eliciting a silent groan as both men now stepped in front of him, the bullies long gone.

"You aren't going anywhere kid" had he been noticed?! Play it cool.

"Yeah I've heard enough about you that I can't just let you leave" had he even told Taiyang about it?! Damn, this seriously wasn't good.

He swallowed silently before exhaling a breath, working out a plan to get out of here. It sounded impossible honestly, the idea of escaping two of the most experienced hunter's in the field in his current state. Hell, even with Taiyang retiring into teaching. He wasn't even sure he had a hope in hell if he was still in his prime, not that he was.

That was all unnecessary thought though, he needed to make a break for it now before they had a chance to properly seize him.

Both Hunter's were caught off guard when Mercury quickly pushed off his feet back into them, roughly knocking them back in their unprepared states.

"Hey wait!" Taiyang called after the boy as he began to escape them as fast as he could, still impressively quick for somebody with a clear limp in their stride, only knowing half of the story since he didn't even know that the legs were mechanical and mismatched at that.

 _Shit, how far will I need to go to evade them_? he questioned internally, rounding into the side streets in an attempt to lose his pursuers, hearing nothing to betray their movements but knowing that people as skilled as they would surely be capable of moving fast and without a sound. Hell, Mercury himself could normally do that under better circumstances.

He winced into every step, the prosthetics boring into his stumped thighs every time the metal feet met the ground beneath his feet, not made to withstand this much force against them, his current legs being the cheap alternatives for those who simply wanted to wander around their house. They just weren't meant for this kind of strain, and it showed when his right leg finally bust after a good five minutes of running.

He continued to hop forward on his other leg but he felt that even that was beginning to show wear, deciding to spare himself from full immobility and just hide himself amidst the trash beside him.

He slouched against the wall and allowed himself to gradually slide down against it. Well, looked like this would be his home for the night. Oh how the mighty have fallen, gone from taking lives to taking dumpsters as places to lay his head.

"Busted your leg huh?" Mercury's eyes darted up in horror at the sound of the familiar voice, coming up to find the eyes of Qrow. He was sympathising with him. Patronising. Condescending. and now he was gonna throw him into the clink or off him here. No of course not, he knew too much. He'd be lucky they didn't interrogate him or just outright torture him. He wasn't with them anymore but he wouldn't give them anything, not out of respect for Cinder but out of hate for the people seeing him as nothing more than a clue to a riddle.

The assassin decided that there was no out here, just letting his head fall back against the stone wall "So what now? Gonna finish what those other bastards started?" he questioned, eyes impassive once again. He had accepted that this was how his life was now, what it had slowly been amounting to even before the dismissal. "Feels good to be in power doesn't it? I wouldn't know because i'm always the puppet dancing along by the strings to whoever holds them at the time" he grit his teeth even harder at Qrow's look of sympathy, once again reminded that he was a show to people like him, just somebody to watch to make yourself feel like a better person for thinking you or somebody else should maybe do something to help.

But nobody ever would because people are naïve enough to think that it's simply the thought that counts.

Hell he forgot that it was that kind of thinking that got him believing in Cinder that he wanted to see the current Remnant topple into something else, maybe a new world where he didn't feel nothing but disgust for anything and everything.

But that was naïve of him.

"Come on kid, take my hand" his thoughts derailed "Lets get you patched up" and even more at that. He looked up and saw nothing but genuine care in those eyes and came upon a sudden realisation.

 _He doesn't know who I am._

Mercury took the hand and let himself be pulled up. He even accepted the arm wrapped around his back to support his on his one functioning leg.

He reasoned that it was because doing otherwise would arouse suspicion. He didn't have any reason to refuse such a kindness after all, acting like the bad guy would just bring Qrow to the conclusion that Mercury really didn't want him to realise.

"Your legs" Qrow began "They're crooked" he supplied simply, to which Mercury just hummed in confirmation.

"Yeah, the best I could scavenge" and he wasn't saying that metaphorically either, having managed to buy one for the bare minimum once his first leg bust and then being forced to salvage another one from the trash once his pocket had long since run dry and his other good leg had finally gone to scrap. "The left one was suited for my height two months ago and the right one is about an inch and a quarter longer than that" and they'd made hell for him to work with, one leg becoming too small and the other forcing him to have a near constant tilt a the knee to compensate for the overextended length.

"Sounds rough" another hum of agreement, Qrow knew that much was obvious. "How about we get you some new ones?"

Mercury saw Qrow smirk at that and he simply had no idea how to respond to that.

So he didn't.

* * *

Ruby held her glare strong and the other held it back, equally fierce in their unyielding war of sight. Seconds dragged on like minutes and soon like hours until finally...

"Aha!" Ruby pointed dramatically "You lose again dad!" she announced victoriously, arms crossed proudly and head held high. Or as high as possible considering Taiyang towered far above her even now as he slouched forward in defeat.

"And now my eyes hurt for nothing..." he droned aloud to Ruby's apparent amusement, the girl giggling like a kid before assaulting her father in a launched hug.

"I still love you dad" and yet Taiyang found that he wasn't in the mood to care since this marked his thirty-first loss to zero wins. He remembered when he used to be a badass fighter who took down criminals like nothing. And now...

He looked down at his younger daughters imploring and innocent silver eyes and grimaced inwardly. He just couldn't bring himself to let her lose at anything, lest he see those beautiful wide eyes go all teary like back when she was a baby. His heart broke every time.

Being a dad was hard...

The door opened and Tai instantly took the opportunity to break his gaze from Ruby and see what became of his search for the boy from before. At first he hadn't wanted to leave it to Qrow since he too had wanted to help but Qrow had been insistent and Tai knew that if there was anybody he could trust to get a job done, it was Qrow Branwen.

He saw Mercury besides his old friend and saw the older of the two nod seriously his way, understanding instantly and nodding back. Both men had known of Mercury for a while, Patch wasn't too large a place after all and news travelled quick so it wasn't unusual that almost everybody had at least heard of the wandering boy on the streets.

When the two had finally happened across it after a quick round up the bar then he had decided enough was enough, he was taking the boy back home with him to at least give him some time to recuperate. He was far too roughed up and couldn't even walk straight and now...

Taiyang's eyes softened at the sight of the destroyed metal leg, the other hardly looking any better. The boy didn't even have flesh and bone to walk on, legs like these needed maintenance and these surely hadn't seen any for a long time.

The blonde Hunter was resolute as he held his hand out in greeting "I'm Tai, welcome to my home" and Mercury to that day had never seen a smile so warm and genuine.

It frightened him. It frightened him to feel so comfortable in the first time in forever.

"Thanks" he replied simply, just not knowing what else he could say. It seemed like enough since Tai quickly turned back into the room he had just come from

"Ruby!" he called before a scuttling of feet was heard and hardly a second passed before a girl with black and red hair suddenly came into sight "This is our house guest, please treat him like you would any of us" but Mercury saw that she wasn't paying full attention, her undivided gaze falling upon his legs, visible now through the further wear and tear of his pants. Most people would be offended by her staring but Mercury saw that look in her eyes and knew that it wasn't horror or disgust or anything even remotely similar in them.

He heard Qrow chuckle and knew that he too had realised that the girl before him was simply marvelling at them.

"Meet Ruby Rose" came the rough voice of Qrow, Mercury not allowing his gaze to escape Ruby for even a second. Her gaze quickly shot up to meet his, a blush on her cheeks at having been caught staring so obviously "She's gonna be the girl who fixes your legs"

And it was at the sight of this innocent young girls awkwardly shy smile that Mercury felt the despite all that had happened so far, maybe this would be the beginning of his next big break.

* * *

 **YO! Haven't written in a while so yeah I have to apologise about that sincerely, I'm currently working on a new chapter for almost all of my stories, so look forward to that if you happen to already be a fan of my previous works (as short-lived as some of them may be).**

 **So! Opinions on this please, there aren't many Mercury focused stories out there so I thought i'd like to do something to change that. Not a massively different AU in which Mercury is already a good guy or anything like that, instead I decided to take the canon Mercury (or at least my take on him pre-series after the Amber incident) and put him under a different set of circumstances and see where we get from there.**

 **I can't stress enough that I need to know if people want me to continue with this because it isn't something i'm sure will be well received so I implore you to give me your opinions in whatever form you can.**

 **From here on it's going to be a case of Mercury meeting people and warring with his own opinions on situations that he will come across as time passes by. This all happens pre-Beacon so Ruby and Yang are still at Signal so we'll see how things go from here on.**

 **Beyond that I hope you enjoyed my work and I hope to see and hear from all of you soon.**

 **Au Revoir for now Readers! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2 - To Imagine

Mercury extended the leg outwards and then brought it back in, coiling the synthetic wiring that substituted as muscles as his heel met the back of what actual muscle was left at the height of his thigh. The forcibly retired killer hummed in recognition of the legs characteristics and whirled on the little girl in red waiting with bated breath over his analysis.

"It works well, fits my height and it seems fairly durable with appropriate upkeep" he confirmed, keeping up his stoic façade even as a smirk threatened to erupt onto his features at the sight of the reaper visibly restraining the act of jumping in joy. "However..." let it never be said that Mercury was not an honest man when it came to the perfection that was his legs and most useful weapons "Whilst they seem efficient in the ways that I said. That applies for general prosthetics used in far more casual manners than i'd like" he saw the girl begin to deflate and felt his back gaining some new heated holes in it "B-but these are perfect for the time being!" he reassured quickly, managing to salvage the situation if the now breathable air was any implication, having been suffocating from the murderous intent but a second ago.

"You know Rubes is doing this out of the kindness of her heart" the silver-haired renegade sent Yang Xiao Long a glance over his shoulder.

The girl was gorgeous by anybody's definition. Sleek and curvy body in all the right places, well-endowed even now after having just about turned 17. Didn't help that she had a gorgeously fiery blonde mane of hair (that he had learnt took hours upon hours to maintain) and a perfectly unblemished face much like her younger sister.

And those lilac eyes man...

It was for the best that Mercury; whilst one who may seem like a playboy pretty-boy from first glance (since with a bit of clean up he was nothing to scoff at) was nothing like that unless his 'work' required it of him. He was an actor and had all of his emotions held under lock and key. Shame that he had only recently recalled that fact. He could've done with it back when he nigh broke down in front of Tai and Qrow.

"I feel like you don't have much room to argue under these circumstances" and now he was brought back to the real world where the blonde bombshell had slowly approached him with hands on hips and eyes set in a slight frown. "Maybe you should be a bit more grateful at having the ability to walk on level footing again?" she moved her arms behind her head and interlocked her fingers, looking almost indifferent to his existence.

He scoffed inwardly at that. First time she'd seen him had been the day after he'd arrived since she'd stayed out at a friends place. That was back when he was a leg down and still grimy and unkempt, messy stubble and greasy hair aplenty. Naturally a girl who spent so much time perfecting her appearance was disgusted by him at first sight and had quickly turned her nose up at him.

That wasn't to say she was a bad person though. She was clearly as kind as her father and sister.

Well... maybe not to Ruby's level since that girl was a saint with the weapon of a demon.

Yang's second reaction to him was vastly different to the first. After Tai had got him showered and cleaned he had him sent to the local barber and the guy did what he did best and did wonders for his looks he found. Shorter and spikier than he was used to but he still liked it; preferred it even. Returning home and shaving off the rest of the unwanted facial hair with the razor he had managed to get with Taiyang's money (bless that man because Mercury couldn't see himself doing it) and he had looked far better than he had remembered.

And 'Yang likey' in her own words. Shame that put a little strain between him and Tai, something he would never admit bugged him since that guy had been Merc's favourite for a while now if not just because he was still afraid of Qrow recognising him at any moment. It's just that the lad forgot all about those worries when he was with either of the Hunters just because they made such good company, both going above and beyond in their own ways to keep him comfortable.

If Merc didn't know any better then he'd have assumed both saw a son in him, having been surrounded by their daughters/nieces for as long back as they can recall.

He could appreciate that it must've been nice to have a 'son' to relate with.

Speaking of Qrow, it had been that same dusty old drunkard who had pointed out that despite Mercury's concealing his abilities and the fact that they had naturally rusted a little over time from lack of action and mobility, it was still apparent that the speeding kick boxer had some combat knowledge ingrained in him even now.

That had brought questions from all parties about whether he had been training to be a hunter or anything like that. He diverted all accusations and managed to convince them all that his dad had just been a martial artist and he had naturally picked some stuff up from instilled discipline. Convince all except Qrow anyway. That look was unimpressed at best and piercing at honest.

Mercury was just glad that he'd been careful enough for his aura not to be discovered by any of them now that he'd had enough R&R for it to have recovered to functional capacity.

In fact he'd be lying if he didn't admit that it had felt stronger than usual lately, what that could imply he didn't know since it required further investigation.

"I'm not ungrateful" he countered easily, having learnt that whilst the girl appreciated his looks, she didn't at all appreciate his aloof personality, nor how honest he was with his opinion on the things that mattered like his god damn legs. "I'm just giving my honest opinion, it is what I was asked for after all" Yang didn't seem to like that answer but he felt that he couldn't have given a reply that she would appreciate.

As she was about to make a scathing retort no doubt (and perhaps another proposition for him to be her punching bag) he was fortunately saved by little miss Red jumping in to play peacekeeper as always "He isn't wrong Yang. I need to know the pros and cons otherwise I won't know how to improve them any further" the blonde boxer went to say something but Ruby continued regardless "It isn't like a weapon sis, I can't test them out myself since he's the only person who knows what it means to have properly functioning prosthetics" and Yang realised that despite her desire to argue further if not just to mouth off at pretty-boy some more, it was simply useless since Ruby had in fact hit the nail right on the head.

Ruby smiled as she tilted her head "Besides, I won't stop until they're the best they could be, my pride as a smithy rides on this" she put her hands at her hips and stood confidently "It's not like Crescent Rose was a one-hit wonder Yang!" she declared with faux arrogance.

Both Yang and Mercury smiled at that and it bugged the both of them once they realised, the blonde huffing and looking in the opposite direction stubbornly whilst he simply rolled his eyes in response.

"Though I am curious" they both perked up at that "Why is it that you want them to be more and more durable?" she awkwardly waved her hands around at the focus she was now receiving "I mean I understand that they're your legs and you'd want the best you can get for them but you said you didn't want to go near combat training again right?"

Ah, he had said something like that to divert the focus on that. Was tired of it through some reason or another, wanted to take it easy and thus the trust was gained. Ruby and the Xiao-Long's believed him but he knew Qrow would eventually confront him on that.

His eyes were too telling on what he knew.

Or maybe he did that intentionally. Mercury still didn't see any recognition in them but he still couldn't shake the feeling that it was there.

"I like to keep fit so it'd be preferable for them to be able to sustain through running and sprinting without wearing too quick" it was a part-truth, he was a speed fighter with immense power so he'd need the best legs to follow through on that. He just had to hope the girl had ego enough to make something that could go above and beyond simple running.

Maybe enough torque to kick through a Deathstalker's shell. Yeah, that'd be nice.

Ruby hummed in thought and went back to working on some blueprints at that tidbit, more than likely implementing different alloys and augmentations to the design. She was good like that; a busy bee with incredible ability and work ethic.

He could respect that.

"I'd like to talk about that actually" came from the blonder of the two sisters, her face scrutinising once more.

He had an idea what was coming and it turned out he was spot on "For somebody who just seems to stick to cardio training you're quite well built" she tapped her knuckles against his bicep and made a whistling noise "For somebody who's been working on busted legs for nearly three months, you're still quite toned."

She was good at connecting the dots, this one. Hell, he suspected Ruby was too but Yang was just intrusive enough to question it aloud unlike the young introvert. So different they were.

He'd say that she was the Yang to Ruby's Yin but he knew the blonde would enjoy that too much.

And for what she was implying she had no idea. Mercury was muscular even now, skinny and a little malnourished but high on the road to recovery with how generous Tai was being with his portions, seemingly creating every meal to provide what the boy was most requiring.

Honestly, Oum bless that man.

But still, he was a skeleton compared to what he had been before. He had a body he was proud of before but now it was just skinny to the point that he still seemed muscular simply because his muscles protruded against so little flesh. He was easily a couple dozen pounds down now and he needed to work that back in.

Though Yang had still impressed him, knowing that even during his intermission months of inactivity he had still managed to retain bits and pieces of his former physique, a kind of body that very few could boast outside of the sisters preferred profession.

"I try to work all around. My father was a strict man and even now his teachings stick with me; a healthy body is the key to a healthy life". She still seemed wary but she at least bought it for the timebeing, her retorts dying on her tongue just to avoid further confrontation in front of her sister.

"Mercury could you come look at this please?" he bought little Red's ticket out and booked it over there, enjoying the ability to walk like a human being once again. "What do you think of these?" and honestly he was once more amazed by the details the girl fit onto one page in so little time. The legs were lightweight, lighter than he was used to with his combat legs but still had a more durable frame to them; a mix of different alloys just to keep the frame sturdy.

But Mercury had something in mind so he'd have to convince her to implement his preferred changes without letting her know the true reasoning behind them.

"Do you mind?" he asked, taking her pencil and pressing it to the paper, only beginning to sketch over it once Ruby gave the affirmative.

He began to draw further shelling around the legs; a more durable alloy similar to the one he was used to just with further added weight, barely but still there. "With this kind of shell frame around your design it could add to the authenticity of them appearing like actual legs when they're covered" because he didn't exactly want to broadcast the fact he was crippled with the thin design these had, having indents and hollow sections where clothing would dip to make them seem unnatural. She would buy that this was because he wanted to conceal his debilitations just to spare him having people pointing and talking about the most unusual thing in the vicinity, naturally being his inability to walk without prosthetics.

She wanted to spare him the awkwardness of those kinds of confrontations but that was all secondary to him. Primarily, he wanted more weight to the legs to add more power to his kicks. He just needed to use these as inbuilt weights and eventually he could best even his old strength.

It was ambitious but he was a determined man now that he had a sort of vengeance to fulfil.

"Alright, i'll begin to implement these now" she chirped, scurrying away quickly to get to work on them.

Now he just had to come up with a way to build in his combat greaves. He already missed the power behind those special dust rounds.

"So you're having a frame made out of an alloy more durable than the actual skeleton of the prosthetics?" and he had almost forgotten that the yellow dragon was there, a poor mistake on his part.

He just needed to come up with further excuse for that.

"I'd prefer to keep the inner workings protect-"

"Ember Celica are primarily made with that same alloy" she accused, more confident now that her sister had left them to their bickering. "That's top combat class stuff. It's made to survive impact after impact without even denting, there's a reason I used it for my gauntlets. You know, those gauntlets I use to beat the tar out of the Grimm; Grimm with their impossibly solid bone armour?" she was burying him in a hole here and it wouldn't help that she didn't at all trust him like the others did. She was more difficult to sway even if she didn't act on them usually.

He could otherwise convince Ruby and Taiyang. He could only push off the inevitable with Yang.

Qrow was an unknown factor from the start, he knew more than he let on but Mercury had yet to learn just how much more that was exactly.

"You're planning to use these legs for something more than running aren't you?" and there it was, the accusation she'd been leading up to all this time.

"My old legs were weaker than the ones i'm having made now; powerful, very much so" he gave her a look "But they wore off when I couldn't afford to maintain them. How often do you have to maintain Ember Celica?" Yang was thrown by that one. She rarely performed maintenance at all, that being more of Ruby's thing to do with Crescent Rose. Ember Celica rarely needed it after all, it was comprised of alloys that aged and reacted at minimal levels.

And like that she realised what he was implying "So you're just trying to avoid the complications of upkeep if you're ever put in such a situation like that again?" she asked to which he chuckled.

"Looks like your head is good for more than just that mane of yours" and like that her expression of understanding went right back to glaring "Are you this aggressive with everybody? Tai implied that you were a bit of a social butterfly"

She scoffed and roughly brushed her shoulder against his "I liked you way more before you ever opened your mouth" and like that Mercury felt comfortable with the girl again.

It just pained him to know that the reason for that was because he interacted with her just like he used to with Emerald, the closest thing to a 'friend' he could remember having in literally forever "I could tell, you were too busy ogling me" and he got a fierce glare back at that, something that helped him distract himself from his prior discomfort "'Yang likey' huh?" he smirked, quickly swerving as a stray round peppered the wall behind him before she could even stop herself.

Her eyes widened and then narrowed "Good reflexes" and like that the seed of doubt grew even further.

He grit his teeth "Shit..." because how often did a cripple who had just gotten his legs back dodge a round moving at a speed most people couldn't even visibly comprehend without filming and playing it back in slow motion?

Though to be fair, she had taken a pretty risky gamble there even if unintended. For all she knew he was a civilian with no aura and subpar skills in combat - martial arts at that and never having even seen a gun before.

If he had been that he'd have been over that wall behind him right now.

She was lucky, oh so lucky.

"She doesn't realise what she just managed to avoid" and there was the 'Dusty old Qrow' again, always there at the worst times without alerting even his innate sense of presence.

"She nearly killed me" and then the man chuckles, bringing a chuckle from Mercury's lips too.

"Not what I meant" the laughter stopped there and the room becamely silent.

"Then what did you mean?"

"You know what I mean" that Mercury could give the girl the best fight she'd ever gotten even in his current state; the wrong legs, without his real weapons and a month or so out of practice.

"You'll have to be more specific" He felt the mans hand find his shoulder, not even having heard him touch the floor once on his way over here even when straining his ears whilst still facing in the opposite direction to the man.

"You know how to fight" he said simply "You've got a fighters body and stance, no matter how much time passes by with you acting otherwise. You slouch, you laze and you act ignorant to it all but I can still see it there kid" Mercury gulped quietly at that, inaudible but he currently felt so vulnerable that he just knew that Qrow picked up on even that.

"I told you that my da-"

"Is more than you let on" he concluded for him "You're out of practice and I still think you could take the girls on head to head if you were just given the legs to withstand the punishment" he admitted honestly to which Mercury drew a blank. Just where was he going with this?

He heard the man unscrew his hip flask and take a hearty swig "You want some?"

"I'm underage" he countered instantly, another deep chuckle emerging from the other at that

"Only just" and Mercury just clenched and unclenched his hands at that, any excuse to work out some of this nervousness, stacking uncontrollably with every added word.

"I'm 17"

"You're at least 19" Mercury now twisted and sent a fierce glare back, raging infernos in those pools of steely grey. The jig was up and the charade was over "And what brought you to that conclusion?"

The man chuckled "A background check with some good connections" he idly leant against the table next to them both, the tension so thick in the air but only affecting the younger of the two if Qrow's playful demeanour was anything to go by "You're Marcus' kid" and Mercury didn't even try to dispute the facts at this point, the situation was too far gone "Found dead about half a year or so back with blood traces nearby that were unrecognised anywhere" he prodded further "Though there were remnants of the man himself with a smaller, younger clone of himself who didn't belong on any records, just a diary with some excerpts dating back to said child's inception" Qrow's eyes steeled "Marcus was a killer; damn good at what he did. And yet you of his kin, hardly half his age managed to best and then kill the guy" was this leading up to that reveal Mercury had predicted would come? Whatever contacts this guy had, nobody knew who he was other than his father and prior associates, neither of which could give him up at this point.

"So what if I did?" he was ready to fight now, even knowing that he was up against somebody who remained a titan amongst the world of man. Qrow was beyond anything he had come up against before; maybe even worse than Cinder since he'd been enough to have her retreat even with the advantage of numbers whilst he had the liability of a casualty in the form of the Fall Maiden.

"I'd suggest you continue to trek onwards" and like that the tension broke, Mercury almost having a heart attack as he grasped his chest at his lack of breath from holding it unknowingly. "You're the best I've ever seen at your age and I think you'll only improve" his eyes were colder than they should've been saying this "An old friend of mine would ask for your favourite Fairy Tale and tell you that anything is possible before having you imagine your truest potential under his guidance" he sighed "I'm not him but I can at least help you get there"

Wait, what was Mercury hearing right now exactly?

"Mercury, how would you like to become my apprentice?"

* * *

 **Alrighty! A little lack of action this chapter but it's leading up to it.**

 **Mercury is still in his weakened state but even in canon it's hinted that Mercury is stronger than he lets on, plus I feel he's older than the rest of the students are if not just because I feel it'd be more interesting for him to be. But I honestly can't shake the feeling that him and Emerald are actually their elders even if just barely.**

 **Last chapter will be more interesting action and development-wise so I hope you'll look forward to that.**

 **Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think through reviews if you have the time and favourite/follow if you want to stick around for more! Thanks to all of those who already have, it's a lot of the reason i'm already throwing another chapter out so just know that they do get the gears turning which is understandable since it's nice to know your work is appreciated.**

 **Look forward to more soon-ish!**

 **Au Revoir for now Readers ^^**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Display of Growth

Mercury fell back against the floor, his ass having long gotten tired of being handed to him in such a short time.

"You gonna get back up?" the boy grit his teeth and forced himself up once more, shaky on his feet but determined to at least land another hit on his opponent.

"I'm gonna destroy you old man" he slowly stepped forward, stance rigid and ready.

"And he's gonna break your legs all over again. He may not look it but give him the excuse of 'training' and Tai will beat the shit out of even a cripple" Merc groaned at that tidbit and began to survey the blonde brawler before him.

He was a teacher at Signal now. Out of practice from being away from the field for too long. Mercury wouldn't have been able to tell since he was as strong if not stronger than the stories about the guy made him out to be.

"Qrow lets not get carried away" he chuckled, still a ball of sunshine even whilst in that stance that Mercury just couldn't find a single fault in.

Well he'd just have to make one.

Tai's and Qrow's eyes widened as Mercury just vanished into thin air, the only showing that he'd moved being the kick of dust that inevitably flew.

Mercury brought his leg crashing down from Tai's right, going for the blindside with a fierce axe kick only to have it find the bare wrist of the invincible boxer with a sound-breaking shockwave emanating from the force "Hey, seems Rubes new legs are working pretty well. The other ones would've smashed at just that" Tai replied casually, irritating Mercury further as he spun midair and brought his other leg down to further dent the other mans aura, swinging the other leg in a low arc to meet his ribs under his guard.

The old Qrow whistled as Tai grunted audibly as he soared across the open plains they fought in "Not bad kid, even I struggle landing a hit on Tai in CQC" he chuckled as he saw the triumphant look on Mercury's face "But trust me that it only gets harder with every hit" and like that the boy found himself destroyed in half a second before he had even comprehended what had happened.

He found himself looking straight up as he felt his body surround itself in pain, his aura vanishing at what seemed like the most painful gust of wind he'd ever experienced. He slowly sat up and got to see Tai holding a hand out to help him back up, a kind smile on his face and a fiery movement to his golden hair before it slowly settled back into place "You did good Mercury" he said with genuine proudness in his eyes "But you still have a long way to go so keep up the good work!"

A scoff was heard from Qrow's position against a nearby tree "He landed one hit and then got his ass destroyed by your semblance Tai" he countered easily, looking down at his scroll as he checked the facts "He's down to zero and you're still at 87%. Do you feel like a winner yet kid?" and like that the two silver-haired fighters shared their friendly 'glare-off', only ending once Tai broke out into boisterous laughter.

"You guys get on really great don't ya?" and let it be known that their dismissal was heard all around Patch.

Hopefully Ruby and Yang remained none the wiser to these secret training rendezvous'...

* * *

"Rubes! Dad! Uncle Qrow! Freeloader! Foods ready!" and like every other call for food it was met with hastened steps from every direction, everybody practically appearing in their seats like they'd been there the whole time "Where's doofus?" Yang asked the present crew, receiving a shrug from Qrow, a confused, vacant look from Tai and a playful chuckle from Ruby.

"We were both working on some modifications with his legs and he's out to get some of the materials to properly perform them" she explained, "He's been gone a couple hours longer than he should've been to get to the local store but he messaged me via scroll that the store was out so he was having to move to find somewhere else" the elder sister frowned at that.

"I don't like how much time you spend together alone with him..." she admitted in her usual subtle, Yang-ish way of speaking. Ruby just looked back blankly at her, not understanding the insinuation with that introverted way of thinking of hers. "A young single girl alone with a playboy pretty-boy in the secluded forge/basement of her house?" she suggested, now receiving a reaction as Ruby's face lit up bright red.

"Me and Mercury aren't like that!" and like that she was stood once more, her exclamation followed with her hands banging against the table "And he isn't a playboy! He's a nice guy" she continued, now innocently fumbling since all attention was on her for a topic she was just beyond uncomfortable with. Only growing worse since it was amongst her family, overprotective dad included.

Yang smirked, her playful older sister side beating out her concerned older sister side "Seems like you'd like it if you were like that" she cooed in that teasing tone of hers, once again playing Ruby's emotions in the way just she knew how to elicit those adorable sputtering's and denials. "Has my little sister got a crush?" and whilst it began playful, her features then set in a frown once she considered that "Don't answer that. I'm going to assume the answer is no and I better be right"

The little red reaper sat back down and twiddled her thumbs together as she tried to hide herself in her hood. Yang didn't like that reaction and neither did Tai if the telltale snapping of silverware was any indication. Qrow just scoffed "Looks like daddy just broke another knife and fork" he flicked Tai in the forehead, being one of few who had the balls to mess with an angry Tai "You're so clumsy daddy" he teased.

Tai just exhaled and calmed himself down. He was reading into playful teasing between sisters and that just wasn't right. Plus, Mercury was a good kid, it wouldn't exactly be awful to have him as a son-in-law right?

...

Maybe in about a decade and only when he could trounce both Tai and Qrow in combat would he let them take care of either of his little girls.

The ensuing fight between sisters stopped once the door opened to reveal the man of the hour himself, holding a bag of parts and dust and looking the least bit pleased for whatever reason.

"What's got you so grumpy?" Yang huffed, passing him a glance as she placed the meals before everybody, Tai being the only one who was already digging into it as if he were the child of the group.

Mercury dropped into his seat after lacing the bag aside and sighed "Bumped into somebody, it was... eventful" he left it at that and Tai and Ruby respected the fact that he clearly didn't want to go into detail about it.

"Continue" Yang wasn't so considerate.

The silver-haired fighter gave her a small glare to meet her own, eventually giving up with a sigh when she refused to place the last meal in her hand before him until he gave. "Fine" he didn't like the cocky smirk on her face but he was more than happy to take the meal off her hands for her.

Tai was a damn good cook and Yang was no slouch either. The other two of the family were exempt from that and Mercury had learnt that the hard way when Ruby had energetically cooked him something up in the past to celebrate the completion of his legs.

Even Yang respected his silence on that dark bit of history.

Now that everybody had gathered they began to eat, though all eyes were on him as they waited for him to begin now that he had given his consent to do so (forceful prodding from the blonde bombshell aside).

"Alright so as you probably know I went out to get some of the stuff me and Ruby had been talking about adding to my prosthetics" he saw them all nod and assumed that Ruby had in fact told them as such since he had been late to the table. "So while I was out I found that the local store had most of the parts but didn't stock the right coils for the suspension or the dust we were considering"

Ruby made an 'ah' sound at that, grabbing the attention of the table "We were looking at adding some magnetic dust to the suspension parts to reduce the friction between parts. It'd overall make the whole movement process faster and reduce wear as long as you could refill it at least twice or so a year" she detailed, the Xiao-Long's smiling at the whiz kid of the family whilst Qrow frowned to himself, no doubt wondering whether she too knew of Mercury's true abilities considering her readiness to help him improve his legs to the point where they were almost obviously being used for something far more than your average cripple.

Mercury nodded, grateful for the explanation from the redhead "So I had to find somewhere else, which took me to the ends of Patch and then eventually a quick shuttle over to Vale" he stopped, finding a mixture of gazes ranging from expectancy to interest, some demanding more (Yang) and others willing to hear out whatever he was willing to give (Taiyang and Ruby). The boy inhaled silently, holding it a moment before releasing it once he found his nerves "I ran into some thugs and it escalated quickly"

He saw the looks turn more and more curious so he decided he'd regale them.

* * *

 _Mercury continued to wander down the street, a light hop to his every step as he picked up the pace in order to return to Ruby as soon as he humanly could. He did not want to see those big silver eyes pooling with tears ever again if he could help it._

 _He had to stop dead in his tracks once he saw that people had began shuffling into a wide berth around a group of thugs dresses in red and black._

What are Junior's men doing here? _He thought to himself, realising that it must have been some small time criminal since it was no secret that The Club's Thugs were hardly the best at their line of work. They were the cheap grunts people got to do the lifting and keep up the intimidation factor at best._

 _Against his better judgement he decided to tail them, see what was going down. Nothing more, nothing less. He couldn't afford to be recognised and any of these men who'd worked with Junior for an extended period of time may just remember him since he had passed through for information a couple times in the past._

 _He was broken from his thoughts when the group eventually came across a small time store farther down the street. 'From Dust to Dust' he noted idly. The head of the squad, betrayed by the red ring and playing card tucked around the rim of his hat stepped forward and gestured the crew to follow him inside and Mercury could only grimace._

'They're under Roman's orders aren't they?' _And it was no secret to him that Cinder was still using Roman for this part of the plan, though honestly he wondered if she'd changed anything around now that she knew Mercury was on the loose and more than likely out for blood._

 _He wondered if she'd laugh at the scene of him idly getting along with the small-time family in Patch before using them as hostages to have him willingly walk to his own execution._

 _Right before she cut them down before him and then took him out after the appropriate amount of torture had been dealt._

 _He shook off the thoughts and saw that the thugs were now bullying and terrorising the store owner and the few customers. They look scared; horrified even. And why wouldn't they? Grown men were shaking guns, swords and axes in their face with at least some knowledge on how to use them._

 _Weeks ago Mercury would've been stopping them and then showing them how it was truly done; the biggest monster amongst them._

 _But now his thoughts went to Ruby and Yang and what they would do in this situation..._

"Well I want to be a hero like dad and... and like my mom" _he had scoffed at the time and asked the reaper just why she'd go down such a path_ "Because I want to make the world a better place; people call me naïve but I know the dangers. It doesn't deter me, it just reminds me there's still work to be done" _and she'd shut him up with that. The girl was the real deal and he had to grudgingly admit it._

"Well i'm a big sister" _he hadn't got it at the time but Yang apparently felt obligated to enlighten_ "People lose family to the Grimm and I couldn't imagine losing anybody more from mine. If you never want to lose then you'll try harder and harder until you're strong enough to never have to" _and then she'd punched him in the arm, the first hit she'd managed to land on him even if it had been in a distracted state._

 _It fucking hurt._

 _He shut his eyes and sighed to himself "I can't believe i'm doing this"_

 _"Hey!" all eyes turned to him as he entered the store, pulling his collar up a little more to hide the lower section of his face. "Come on, all at once so I can get out of here already"_

 _The thugs shared a look before scowling and running at him with shocking lack of skill or even unison._

 _Merc rolled his eyes as he brought his leg up and stabbed it forward into the first mans gut, instantly seeing the guys aura flicker to nothing. '_ Shit, these guys are real frail, should definitely pull my hits a little more'. _He dodged a swing and then another, jumping to dodge a bullet from a third attacker and lashing both legs out in opposite directions to boot the other two right in their chest and jaw to send them sprawling. The one having being hit in the chest began struggling to regain his bearings before a heel slammed into his forehead with just enough delicacy to not screw him up something fierce._

 _Another salvo of bullets hit his previous location and the speedster zoomed in at him with unmatched ferocity and guile, not even having been noticed until the man had two metal calves wrapped around his throat, the weight of the boy being swung about to send the thug into the ceiling only to bounce back down onto an outstretched leg to diminish what little aura remained._

 _"The only thing you guys have is a sharp stick and an unlocked aura" he said with a sneer, now grabbing the leader by the collar and slamming him into a wall, grey eyes glaring into the red of his lenses. "Get out of here and get out of your line of work while you're at it or you'll regret it" he spat out, recoiling his leg once he felt the warmth spreading throughout the other mans pants._

 _Grown man and he fucking pisses himself..._

 _One boot to the temple and Mercury was finally done with his easiest job to date. Well, hardly a job if he didn't get paid..._

 _"Th-thank you mister!" came from a voice to his right, a group of huddled civilians now beginning to surround him with nothing but grateful smiles written upon their faces. He turned to the little boy who'd spoken to him and gave the boy a small smirk._

 _"No problem kid, Hunter's job right?" and the kid only grinned back with that stupid excuse for growing teeth and yet Mercury couldn't help but think to himself that maybe this job did pay in its own way._

 _That was as far as he got however as he heard a whistling in the air, turning with practiced precision and his heel finding the projectile before it even had time to impact him, sending the it smashing out the window to detonate in an enormous shower of fireworks above them._

 _He'd acted on impulse and just stopped an explosive round and it was only now that he realised something._

 _That was meant to ignite the store's dust supply, and that was undoubtedly a round from Roman's Melodic Cudgel._

 _He even saw the criminal retreating into the alleyways in the distance and grimaced._

 _Now he had to worry about somebody else potentially having seen him..._

* * *

"After that the cops came around and I answered some questions before they sent me on my way" he finished, having to have omitted a decent portion of that story relating to his past and identity, giving them what they needed to know relative to the Mercury they now knew.

He was met with looks of wonder from the little red reaper and a smirk from the blonde vixen.

"Yang if i'm not mistaken you almost look pleased with me" he teased with a smirk not unlike her own whenever she happened to mess with Ruby. This was met with a sputtered denial and a small light pink dusting on her cheeks to Mercury's surprise.

"Yeah, you did a good thing there" she said honestly, a serious look in those lilac eyes of hers "But from what I heard you took out a group of thugs with just your kicks" he had to suppress a grimace at the grin spreading across her features "You know how to fight don't you Mercury?" she cooed, eliciting a begrudging nod from the silverette "That settles it. Dad? Uncle Qrow?" she turned to the two older men who looked back at her expectantly "Could you book us a room at Signal so that I can kick his ass in front of the whole school?" she asked with that terrifyingly sweet smile of hers.

Qrow just gulped and looked away but daddy had to simply shudder, grin and bear it all "S-sure honey..!" he gave Merc an apologetic look and it was almost sad that Mercury understood all too well and forgave him in an instant.

Yang walked up and punched the boy in the arm "You deflected a stray dust round" she acknowledged "You'd better at least get me to try" her eyes softened for a moment Never lie to me about anything like this again" she blinked rapidly "I mean us!" she punched him harder this time with a blush "Shut up!" and stormed out.

Mercury simply sighed and gave Ruby a playful roll of the eyes, eliciting a giggle from the girl.

He dropped his cutlery on his plate once he'd finished, last to do so from having been the last to arrive as well as not having fully recovered his appetite yet. He gestured his head to Ruby, pointing towards the basement "Want to see if we can get those parts working?" she nodded enthusiastically and he grinned back at her "Badass" he headed over to the door and was about to open it-

"You two have fun down there!" Yang cooed from the next room, Ruby now as red as the cloak she was hiding her face in as they moved into the forge.

"Come on kid" he laughed, ruffling her hair fondly as they began to get to work.

Just another day in paradise...

* * *

Tai turned to Qrow with a surprisingly serious look in his eyes "What do you think?"

The older Reaper just nodded solemnly "It's too coincidental if it isn't him" he pulled out his scroll "Ozpin only invites the best to that academy; he can see potential like no other" the message on the scroll read that Ozpin had apparently found somebody he wanted in his academy and Qrow could only relate it to the story he had heard from his new protégé.

The blonde man sighed "I can't see him taking it" he frowned "I mean he refused your offer to be your apprentice even..." Qrow grimaced at that reminder.

"He's a good kid but he doesn't see it even himself. He has a past" his friend glanced over at him with an annoyed look, a look rarely associated with the kind-hearted Hunter.

"You keep saying that but you're so vague!" he gripped Qrow's collar but received nothing but a blank look in return "What do you know that I don't Qrow?! I care about that kid, he's been pulled through the rough like we couldn't even fathom and you're just going to hold out on me?!" he shoved him away and Qrow just looked downtrodden.

"Do you think he'd ever appreciate you knowing what he doesn't even want me knowing? It isn't my place to tell. It isn't even my place to know Tai" the lion of Team STRQ winced at that.

"No..."

Qrow walked forward and put an arm on his oldest friends shoulder "Trust him Tai. He sees a father in you and he'll let you know eventually I know it" he received a grateful nod and Qrow took the chance to leave, heading to his room with no diversions.

And as he settled onto his bed his thoughts went back to Mercury; the kid who saved civilians from armed robbery at the cost of the identity he so desperately concealed and the Mercury he hid from them; the Mercury that held the Fall Maiden down as she was slowly drained of her life into the husk she now is beneath Beacon Academy.

The man covered his eyes with his arms "I believe you can be saved, please don't betray our trust kid..."

* * *

 **Extra: The Aftermath of the Robbery**

Mercury shuffled in his seat for an instant before kicking back on it, overlapping his legs across the table with a downright bored expression.

"...Please remove your feet from the table" Mercury gave Goodwitch a flat look as he slowly complied, withdrawing them and instead turning the chair around to lean forward against what was intended to be the backrest, earning another piercing glare from the beautiful woman across the table.

"You'd be a lot more beautiful if you'd stop trying to kill people with a look" he said idly, the woman not even giving him an inch at that. Smart because he'd take a mile if she did.

Finally the door opened to reveal that Mercury's suspicions had been correct, Goodwitch being the hint once the police had dropped him here telling him that somebody had wanted to meet him.

"Greetings" he began calmly, seating himself down at the opposite end of the table as Goodwitch remained as statuesque as before to his right with her back against the wall, standing as ramrod straight as he had assumed what with that legendary stick up her ass and whatnot. "Do you know I am?" he asked, earning a scoff from Mercury.

"Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon; 'treasured' member of the council and one of the most influential men in all of Vale" Ozpin seemed pleased with the answer "So yes I have connected to social media at least once in my life" Goodwitch was less pleased by the sarcastic response.

Ozpin simply chuckled "It wouldn't be against my predictions to assume that you're not too fond of me, correct?" Mercury said nothing but his lack of denial was enough for the Wizard of Beacon "Do you know why i'm here?" he continued

"So you can send another soldier to their death for your cause" he said without missing a beat, his glare moving to Goodwitch as she stepped forward with a fierce scowl only to halt at Ozpin's raised hand.

"I'm sorry, have you lost friends or family to the work of Hunters?" he asked with an expression of sorrow that only disgusted Mercury further.

"You shouldn't fake sympathy, it's more sickening than being outright apathetic" he countered, seeing that Goodwitch looked as if she were about to pop a blood vessel.

Ozpin simply frowned "Glynda, please leave us some privacy" the woman looked hesitant but eventually obeyed. It was only once the door clicked shut that Ozpin returned his gaze to the boy "What is your name?" Mercury almost smirked at that. He wouldn't be surprised if this was the first time Ozpin had ever run this act without knowing even this much about the forced 'applicant' to his prestigious academy.

No doubt he usually knew everything down to the girls fucking measurements.

"You're thinking something degrading of me aren't you?" he questioned with a humoured smile. The silence permeated and eventually Ozpin with his endless patience saw fit to move on to the next stage even with his lack of details. "I would like to invite you to join my-"

"No" Mercury replied evenly.

Ozpin simply chuckled "You didn't even hear me out"

"I'm not going to be a god damn student learning under people like you"

"Then don't"

Mercury rolled his eyes "That's what I've been trying to do"

"You misunderstand" Ozpin pushed his glasses back and gave a smile "I'd much prefer to employ than educate somebody as capable as yourself" Mercury's eyes widened "Yes? No?"

Mercury gulped and narrowed his eyes harshly, speaking only after a whole minute had cycled by "I have some conditions..."

Ozpin only smirked behind his hands.

* * *

 **Yo! Regent here with another chapter coming your way!**

 **I'm beyond ecstatic with all the interest this story is getting and I only hope that it continues to grow! I want this story to keep on growing to the point in which everybody can hopefully enjoy it.**

 **Well I'll leave you toy our thoughts on what's going to happen next and what's going to become of Mercury with being offered a job at Beacon and as Qrow's assistant.**

 **Looks like everybody wants some of dat Merc work ethic.**

 **Remember to Favourite, Follow and Review if you enjoyed my story. Nothing lets me know that my stories are appreciated as much as hearing it straight from the source through your reviews so I hope to hear from you all soon.**

 **Au Revoir for now readers! ^^**


	4. Chapter 4 - Two Legs to Stand on

Mercury was livid as he continued to make haste through the city streets, forced into yet another public show because of this fucked up family (though the last one was admittedly their influence on him rather than their actual demanding) despite his blatantly apparent want for staying away from the spotlight.

Did they think a good looking guy like him couldn't go and pick up any girl in town and freeload off of them for affection until he landed something more solid?

He pursed his lips together at that thought.

He at least felt like he could; hardly could the first time with one barely working leg, looking and actually being nothing more than a bum on the streets.

He stopped at a crossing and tapped his metal feet against the curb through his sneakers, feeling the perfection of engineering just through that.

Alright so maybe he had a lot to owe them for. At least with his legs he'd put as much work in as Ruby had save for most of the materials coming from Tai's apparently stuffed wallet even if he did say that Mercury was paying him back with labour.

Mercury was no expert in how much one should get for cleaning and doing odd jobs here and there about town but he was damn sure it wasn't enough to cover some of the best parts on the market. And yet his legs had at least four separate mechanisms that exceeded triple digits each.

Maybe he was like a long-term investment?

In all likeliness Tai was hoping that scratching Mercury's back here (if 'scratch' could cover what the man had done for him) would lead to Mercury doing the same in the future for him once he had presumably become a Hunter or something like that.

At least, that's what Mercury told himself to believe. It didn't matter though. He couldn't even convince himself that this was even marginally true; Tai was just a kind soul with too much give to Mercury's overabundant take.

The traffic let up enough for Mercury to cross and he only barely noticed a kid run out behind him with a loud pattering of feet followed by a startlingly loud - and close beep from the vehicle darting towards them.

With reaction time born of a life of 'kill or be killed', Mercury already had the kid before the half-second had passed that would have wrote the kid off as dead. His arms tightly wound around their small frame and his leg against the hood of the car now an instant away from them was all he needed to bound off and up into the air, the peak of their rise met with startled wonder from the child where moments ago only fear had been.

He looked into their eyes and made no expression. He couldn't deny the feeling of happiness but he couldn't deign himself to show it, not for a life so insignificant...

His feet found the ground and his knees bent to take the impact, arms opening to release his cradle-hold and gently lean the kid back up onto their feet.

Now that he had a moment to care enough to check the details he found that it had been a young female toddler Faunas. One that looked as if it were feline in nature but to what species he could not confirm with so little to go on.

It was sharp eyes and ears that were both expressing such wonder towards him, like he was some hero.

He wasn't. He was for what he'd done but the idea of him doing anything noble left a sour taste in the mouth of anybody involved he was sure.

"Th-thank you!" she chirped, cheeks tinted red at the embarrassing break in her small voice. Mercury couldn't care less and he had a schedule to hit so he just waved her off.

"No problem, just be careful in future yeah?" he began to leave without another word, not even looking back as the girls friends surrounded her dotingly, all shouting words of amazement towards the superhuman display he had just presented before them.

Last time he had saved a kid he had smiled. Last time he had saved a kid amongst others was four days ago...

Maybe he was bashful about this new lifestyle because as good as he was at hiding his emotions, he couldn't prevent that smile that began to break across his face.

He jiggled the bag in his hand once he picked it back up from the sidewalk.

He supposed he could give the time to return this. Besides, he still had a bone to pick with Tai for letting this fight even happen later today.

* * *

Yang was not at all happy with how the day was progressing. Written assessment after written assessment being dropped on her like feathers from a Nevermore, and she was absolutely positive she'd take living the metaphor over this. She liked to punch stuff, was that so much to ask of them?

"-The assessment will be in by next Monday or we'll be having words" Tai's eyes filtered over the room to show that he meant nobody in particular but it didn't take a genius to see that his eyes went to his fiery blonde daughter more than a few times more than the others.

Wouldn't be the first time she tried to pull 'teacher's daughter' on him and just ignore it, and then it would subsequently become a situation where he had to make an explicit show of authority with her just to whack aside any remarks of 'favouritism'.

Honestly he wouldn't be hard-pressed to admit that she was the worst student he had...

Not to say he didn't love her but...

Cut him some slack, the girl could punch out Ursa's with a single blow but couldn't sit still for the life of her. And while yes a Hunter is trained to kill Grimm rather than write them letters explaining just why they should stop being mindless engines of destruction, he couldn't just let her go illiterate from here on out.

Last thing he wanted was a daughter who just failed to fit in because of her stubborn antics forcing her to remain ostracised from the rest of society through a lack of public decency!

Well...

He was almost sure Ruby would grow out of her 'weapon-sexual' phase...

...

Never even consider Ruby anything sexual again...

"Oi Tai" the room turned to the door as it slammed open, heads tilting and eyes sparkling at the silver-haired youth now stood there.

"Mercury?" he looked as confused as he sounded; very. Why was he here? Thoughts were pushed aside as he reflexively caught his wallet as it flew through the air.

"Qrow calls me kid and you forget your wallet in the living room right next to your Rom Com collection" he said with no shortage of aloofness, though there was something about his eyes that screamed 'mirth'. That little jab was intentional regardless of how true it may have been.

"Good joke" he recovered with a roll of his eyes, seeing that the class was back to his side. No way their 'awesome' (His words) teacher would ever be into sappy romance stuff made with young teen girls as their central focus as an audience!

"I thought you'd say that..." and like that a stack of four of his favourite films were strewn across his desk. He was livid and his flaming mane showed it. His eyes met Mercury's; full of satisfaction and he almost screamed but managed to keep it internal. "Your rentals will be overdue by tomorrow, thought you'd like to stay punctual and return them; God knows how you'd react if they cut you off. _Again"_

Students were leaning up and about to get a better view of the cases on the desk and gasps were beginning to sound from the surprise at finding that their 'masculine' teacher was actually a big woman's blouse in disguise (His words)!

He was ruined!

Laughter burst into the room, emanating from his 'beloved' daughter Yang.

She pointed at Tai as she threw her head back, taking in the whole scene with no sign of stopping. "You look like you're about to wet yourself..!" she gasped out between breaths, now slamming onto her desk and banging her fist against it as she tried and fail to recover from the laughter that incessantly escaped her lungs.

After a while of that, Mercury decided enough was enough "And that is why next time that-" he pressed his lips together over his curse at the look of murder Tai gave him at the idea of him swearing before his students. His coming-of-age students who no doubt already cursed like sailors just to be 'cool' "-tries to fight me, you stop Rapunzel over there!" Yang would never admit to the small blush on her cheeks at being referred to as a Fairy Tale princess but she would gladly admit to the seething rage moments later "More like the Barbarian the princesses usually run from she is..." their eyes met; steel glaring back down at red, something very, very few people could and would do.

Tai found himself between them a moment later, clearing his throat to break the tension. "Lesson learned Mercury" he said simply "Class, this is Mercury Black; somebody you should strive to be more like in terms of determination and combat ability" Mercury was taken aback by the compliment "But also an example of what not to be in that he's a bad-mannered freeloader with no sense of decency when it comes to the arts!" eyes were rolled all around at that.

"I take offence to that" Mercury said easily and with nil expression.

"Please, don't be so obvious about it next time" Tai retorted just as easily, apparently the two were more than used to one another to be quipping back and forth the way they were so expertly.

After a few more back and forth's between teacher and unwilling apprentice, the elder of the two finally decided to get back on track. "Mercury is here for a reason beyond attempting to humiliate me" he bit back a scathing insult to the kickboxer when he unintentionally reminded himself of that little scenario. "He is here to fight Miss Xiao Long" he informed, to which chatter began to erupt immediately.

It was no small thing to take on Yang; she was unanimously considered the strongest student currently at Signal after all, what with being in her final year and easily topping her class.

It took one punch to end so many fights and yet she had to choose to drag them on against most people just in order to try and learn something more than 'hit them really hard and they go down easy'.

Yang herself knew better than anybody that she could take down anybody in this classroom so what was some punk her own age (As far as she knew) without functioning legs going to do?

She laughed aloud at the thought of it.

"I can't wait to show you who's boss" she said as she stood up and cracked her knuckles fiercely; trademark smirk jilting up her round cheeks as she stared him down.

Mercury internally wanted to go back to his old ways and kick her skull in at the idea but it didn't take as much restraint as he'd have assumed to bury that thought in the back of his mind. The family had changed him and he couldn't deny that anymore.

He went to retort as hotly as he normally would, scathing words set on his tongue before he was beaten to it.

"You can try" Tai's eyes hardened and his voice became stern as it normally did when he was asserting authority " _After_ class" and with that there was no argument left to make as all muttering stopped in its tracks with even Yang muttering under her breath as she dropped back into her seat, wholly disappointed in how this whole thing had turned out.

The man of the Xiao Long/Rose household sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and took a second to gather himself before turning back onto Mercury "Class is over in 40 minutes, do you mind waiting until then?" Mercury shrugged but it was enough for Tai to understand that he was cool with whatever "Alright, just go find Qrow. Three doors down to the left on this corridor. He should be free right now or..." he made a motion with his hand to emulate drinking and Mercury chuckled at the thought.

"You make it sound like he wouldn't be drinking at any point ever" he brought his hand up and waved the whole thing off "But don't worry, I should be able to find him from smell alone" he quipped, expecting the laugh on the way out and a muffled 'Don't be late!' from the younger dragon through the door once he'd escaped.

He also pretended not to hear Tai getting pissed over her talking out in class again.

Guy was stricter than he'd assume for how nice a guy he was. He was a tough badass from their own training but he never seemed to punish any inattentiveness, rather he corrected it.

Mercury thought about that and sighed at his conclusion. Stress must be getting to the guy, what with his circumstances and looking after two kids of his own, a class full of more and apparently having to babysit a freeloader on top of that.

The silverette brought his hand to his chest at the pain that went through it at that thought but shook it off.

It was natural, he was a burden even now. No longer a murderer for shits and giggles but he was still ruining lives with every step.

But he cared about these people didn't he?

He stopped and looked to his own two feet. Or rather, were they even his anymore?

He lifted up the leg of his pants and chuckled at the sigil he knew was sat there against the inside of what would have been his calf. A rose sat engraved neatly into the fibre of 'his' specially created legs.

Of course his legs weren't even his. What was his anymore outside of a wanted poster and a long list of murders and thefts to say the least of it all.

He clenched his fist and grit his teeth at the thought but-

"You know she made those legs for you" Of course he knew who that was. He can smell his words better than he can hear them.

The dusty old Branwen stepped closer to him with slow, measured steps.

Even in his supposedly drunken state he remained more aware of the world around him than anybody else and it showed why he was both feared and/or respected universally. He said the 'mind-reading' rubbed off on him from association with Ozpin but Mercury knew the bastard was just that good at what he did best; and that was reading other people better than they could read themselves.

His leather shoes clicked against tiled floor until he stopped before the boy and crouched down to look at the etching on his calf, baring the Rose sigil to all.

Mercury grimaced at that but his thoughts were brought to the unexpected wisdom of Qrow, something else that apparently rubbed off on him. "I asked why she put this here once" he started, eyes not leaving the mark. "I said to her, 'you put your mark on somebody else. And you know that isn't right regardless of how much of that work was your doing.'" his eyes now went up to Mercury's and he stood to put himself just over the boy in height, looking down at him with what to most would seem like aloofness or disinterest but Mercury knew to be a front for the constant flitting focus of his eyes, measuring every corner of the room alongside every occupant inside of it.

Nothing escaped the Crow's eyes.

But now they were focused on him with a piercing precision.

"She looked at me in all seriousness after that." his words were slow and placed with purpose, intended to bait his interest to full effect. Again, Mercury knew that but he was still being played along by them, enraptured by his curiosity. "She told me that she didn't put it there to brand you." The kickboxer's eyes widened marginally but he was still confused. He had assumed she had put it there to mark her creation, brand her own brilliance.

It made sense, it just hurt him to see the kindness he was stealing from these people.

But Qrow wasn't done yet. "She put it there so that you knew you weren't alone, that a part of her was with you even when she wasn't there in person" his eyes lit up with mirth at that, the proud uncle shining through at yet another action oh-so Ruby. "Naturally i made fun of her for it but she stood strong. She made it for you but she only put her Rose there so that you knew that she cared about you."

Mercury didn't know what to say to that. Out of his seemingly endless wit and without a word to spit out for the first time in forever.

He was feeling something in his chest, something foreign and so unusual and he couldn't put a word to it but if he had to guess...

"Love" Qrow voiced for him "That's what you're feeling" he slurred slightly with a lazy gesture towards his chest "You've been through a lot Mercury. But now you have a family that cares for you; as naive as they may be to do so" and there it was, another hint at Qrow's unknown measure of knowledge on who he was.

What he'd done.

The feeling burst and he grit his teeth fiercely, almost hissing at that as he quickly barged past the man, finding himself thrown off more by the force than Qrow was, hardly budged in the slightest even with his uneven footing.

"I didn't mean it like that..." the old Crow called after him, regret clear in his words though he made no effort to chase him, knowing that if he did so then Mercury would just go faster.

He heard Qrow calling even now as he turned another corner and opened another door, searching for the exit. He wanted out, he needed out.

What the fuck was he even thinking here? What was he doing for fucks sake.

"Oh there you are!"

What?

* * *

Tai pinched the bridge of his nose again, feeling like it would take only a little more pressure that he could easily supply to put himself in a state where he would need to be sent to an emergency room.

And more importantly, away from his screeching daughter as she wailed on and on about how Mercury was late to a fight he was forced into to begin with.

"God damn it Raven..." and like that, Yang whirled on him with a look that dared him to confirm that she had even potentially heard him right, to which he gave her a practiced look of pure confusion, having her write it off again as her mummy issues whilst he thanks Oum that he dodged another familial bullet to the head.

He needed to stop dancing with death on that front.

"But no, where the fu-" and like that the feeling of impending doom around saying certain words/names before other family members became more obviously hereditary than not.

Tai gave off his fierce father's look and the younger Xiao Long was sufficiently cowed into losing any intention towards cursing before her father.

Kids these days...

Silence permeated for a while after that as Yang toed the floor with her boot ends.

"He'll be here soon" Tai eventually supplied "He won't exactly want to be I'm sure but he made his bed when he went along with it and I trust him enough to lay in it" his words may have had wisdom and faith in them but it lost all value when he realised Yang was giving him the unimpressed look that told him all he needed to know about how this whole situation was pushed on him between the two of them.

With her saying it, Mercury could simply decline. But, he had no chance of saying no to the man who fed and housed him all this time.

Tai suddenly felt more and more like an asshole.

"Shit..." he muttered to the wind, Yang acting oblivious to it beyond a small knowing glance his way.

* * *

"Ruby i don't-!"

"Nah we're nearly there slowpoke, I can't believe you got lost looking for uncle Qrow though!" The redhead puffed her cheeks out as she held back her laugh at his loss of composure, completely misunderstanding the reason behind it "Dad told me he was only two doors down from you too! How did you mess that up?" she peered up at him with her huge, silver doe eyes, reminding him once again that the precious metal had nothing on them.

He shook his head free of the train of thought "Ruby you need to..." he tried to tug his hand away lightly to which she threw him a playfully unimpressed look.

"Come on, don't be a wuss! You got this" she teased, clearly new to the giving end of the stick rather than receiving. It seemed forced and unnatural to Mercury but she was trying to lighten whatever mood he was in it seemed.

But he'd had enough now.

"Ruby, stop!" he pulled his hand back to his side with force enough to veer her around entirely, free hand going up to nurse her roughly tugged appendage, eyes wide and mouth ever so slightly agape at the aggression in his tone and actions.

And it made him feel awful all over again.

"Ruby... I-"

She held her hand up in a motion to stop him, the other hand balling her skirt up something fierce "No it's fine..." she looked lethargic, doing the typical Ruby thing and rationalising the whole thing as her fault to begin with "I... shouldn't have teased you. I know you don't want this..." she looked to him and those eyes, like full moons, unshattered and unbroken.

But diluted with her tears he couldn't help but notice.

Ruby sent him a small smile and wiped her tears away before they could fall, looking up and blinking away the tears and praying that he wouldn't comment on them.

He wouldn't, because he didn't know how to breach the situation as somebody who cared would.

She went to grab his hand again but stopped halfway, recoiling as she recalled his prior aggression, putting on a mask as if it hadn't hurt her far more emotionally than he ever could physically.

"Lets just tell her to stop this Mercury. Lets just go home okay?" her eyes held onto his for a few moments before they fell to his feet with the passing silence.

 _'Her feet'_ he corrected himself, wriggling his automated toes about thoughtlessly before heaving a breath and stepping forward, a hand reaching up to ruffle her hair fondly.

Pretending he didn't shatter a little inside when she withdrew back into herself at his approaching hand.

"I'll do it, and win. As long as you cheer us both on" he promised her, passing by in his best interpretation of a 'cool guy', somebody she could admire and look up to.

"What a farce..." he chuckled to the wind once he was out of her hearing range, daring not to look back as he felt her gaze follow him all the way to the double doors that spelt his introduction in to the world of hunters as more than just the deadbeat living at a Hunter teachers place.

* * *

"You did what?!" Tai was absolutely livid as he finished hearing out his brother-in-law's tale on what had happened, the only explanation as to why Mercury still wasn't here. His eyes flew over to Yang who stood at the centre of the Signal Academy arena as antsy as ever, doing her fifth set of stretches before what must've easily been at least three quarters of the entire academy's students. He pitied the look of disappointment on her face at the no-show she must've been used to now as the powerhouse she was but at least she couldn't hear just what he and her uncle were currently discussing.

"Qrow this is too much. Just how?!" Qrow was usually so tactful as well. He pushed a lot of buttons and came off a slurring drunk at all times but he was anything but tactless. Any buttons he poked and prodded were to draw out answers he needed, usually to benefit others when they needed to vent, marking himself as their target. And whilst often drunk, he still remained amongst the most intelligent men you could find in the entirety of Vale.

The man knew what he was doing. So to mess up like this was something indeed...

"I'm telling ya Tai, it wasn't a slip of the tongue like you might think, just a misunderstanding; I had no other way to correctly phrase it and he wasn't in the best of minds when I found him." he shook his head and steamrolled on before Tai could counter him "We'll never get anywhere with him unless he opens up" he looked serious "I've pushed his thoughts around a little, I think in the long run that it'll help"

Tai took a long while to mull that over in his head "Truly?" and with the nod sent his way alongside the firm solution in his eyes, Tai could at least put his faith in the man once more. He drew out a long exhalation "Fine, but you need to play a part in this too"

He smiled and nodded back to him, twisting the cap off of his flask "I can drink to that-"

"Xiao Long!" and yet he couldn't as all eyes went to the double doors into the arena, finding Mercury Black himself stepping into the arena with combat gear assembled.

He crossed arms concealed in jet black mesh with smoky grey light-metal plating snaking down all the way to the ends of the fingerless gloves at his hands, matching with the style of his form fitting sleeveless top over the layer of mesh no doubt covering the rest of his torso, also plated with small plates forming the shape of his abdominals and pectorals, ending at a high collar snaking most of the way up his neck.

But most impressive of all seemed to be his legs, his prime weapons of choice being coiled in tiny links of some shining material with thicker pieces at the shins, outer thighs and calves, saying nothing of the boots he seemed to wear, almost entirely formed of intricate looking mechanisms and chambers.

Yang grinned at that since it meant she could use her Ember Celica. But when did Ruby make this one? She'd kept quiet it seemed, something she filed into the back of her mind for later.

"So you came t-"

"To win, yes" he finished for her, eyes far more resolute than she'd have at first assumed. She was impressed but this was her show, and she would knock him into the dirt to give these people watching on what they came for.

"You can try..." she chirped with a wide smirk, cocking her gauntlets and readying her stance, watching him copy her stance almost perfectly, something that only riled her up further "What are you-?!"

His eyes remained calm and practiced on her despite her initial outburst "Fighting at your level of combat" he returned easily.

She could only growl at that.

And as she watched her father step forward to announce the match rules, she swore to herself that she would get him to fight her seriously no matter what.

* * *

Mercury kept his head even as he watched the blonde's eyes flare red, eyes flickering over to find Ruby sitting on the sidelines, finding her red cape contrasting amongst the crowds quite easily. Good, at least she was here.

He offered her a small smile as the best he could give right now and set his eyes on victory.

He would play her game and win.

He was Mercury Black for Oum's sake.

* * *

 **Okay so this is finally done. Again. Again...**

 **So truth be told, had this written by last Wednesday. Computer screwed up and refreshed the page instead of saving and erased 4000 words of work. I didn't take kindly to that so I had to take a couple days to calm down again. Of course the same thing happens over the weekend and I'm too excited about releasing it to remember to bloody save the post elsewhere in case of emergency...**

 **Either way, sorry for the wait but here it finally is.**

 **I'll be trying for these bi-weekly for now and stick to a schedule just to give myself something to work towards. This will work for now because I wrote the chapter after this one just fine, meaning I have one lying in wait two weeks from now.**

 **I will be working on A Human's Monstrous Shadow too, perhaps in the off-week but who knows exactly just yet?**

 **Thank you everybody for the amazing support, truly I don't deserve you nor your kindness.**

 **Please continue to read and review my stories, preferably in detail so as to perhaps help me out in some way or another. Hell, even send me your thoughts, I am always open to ideas because God only knows whether they might actually come to light if I appreciate them enough.**

 **Anyway, that's all for now. Again, thanks a bunch for your patronage and...**

 **Au Revoir for now readers! ^^**


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